He Could Be the Loneliest Vendor in Town

No pushing. No waiting. No lines.

The blow-up Raider doll is $6. The $120 Raider jackets are now only $60. Sixty-dollar sweat shirts are now $25.

“I took out an ad in The Times for $408 and I have an ad running in the Oakland Tribune a couple days this week for $400,” said Blake Coleman, owner of the Main Event, a souvenir stand sitting just outside the Coliseum main entrance. “I’m trying to unload this Raider junk, but there just isn’t a lot of action down at the Coliseum.”

Coleman sold a Raider jacket--two months ago.

“It was to somebody who had been coming in for quite some time and who was waiting for the price to go down,” Coleman said. “I sold 150 of these jackets last year.”

Coleman’s stand was open late this week in preparation for USC’s game in the Coliseum, but on Sunday it stood closed.

“I guess I can always go to these swap meets and sell the Raider stuff because there are groups and gangs who like the black stuff,” he said. “I just need to get rid of my inventory so I can start concentrating on the Olympics.”